Freehold schools ready to welcome 1,350 pupils

FREEHOLD - Dressed in crisp new duds, carrying their favorite character lunch boxes and new backpacks, children in the Freehold Borough K-8 School District were set to begin the 2007-08 school year on Sept. 5.

The district's three schools will welcome a total of about 1,350 pupils, which is a slight increase over the 2006-07 enrollment, according to Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth O'Connell.

With funding issues settled for the most part, there are seven restored staff positions in the district. That includes a fourth-grade teacher at the Park Avenue Elementary School, a fifth-grade teacher at the Freehold Learning Center elementary school, an elementary school guidance counselor, one custodian and three clerical assistants.

There are seven new positions in the district. Two physical education/health teachers will provide 150 minutes per week of physical education/health instruction, two full-time World Language teachers will be added in order to expand the World Language program to grades K-8 and two kindergarten teachers and two first-grade teachers will also be welcomed to the staff this school year.

The district will now have four kindergarten classes and four firstgrade classes.

Students at the Freehold Intermediate School will continue to have their extracurricular activities including boys and girls sports, drama/plays and instrumental music and chorus. All of those programs had faced elimination due to a budget crunch.

Also on the list of restorations, according to O'Connell, are all instructional accounts at all three schools and maintenance and repair accounts district wide.

According to O'Connell, officials are still interviewing candidates for an elementary school guidance counselor.

According to the superintendent, class size in kindergarten, first-grade and second-grade has been reduced.

O'Connell said the largest population of pupils appears to be in kindergarten, first grade, third grade and sixth grade.

The district will begin the school year with a new principal at the Freehold Learning Center.

Donna Johnson, the newly appointed principal, is an adjunct professor at Monmouth University, West Long Branch, and spent 10 years teaching in Trenton public schools. She spent the last three years working as an assistant principal for the East Windsor Regional School District's three elementary schools.

Pat Rizzo, who formerly served as the district's math supervisor, is now the director of special programs. The position of math supervisor was one of the cuts made in the budget for 2007- 08.

The doors will open this year with a new school lunch program for the children. The vendor, according to O'Connell is Pomptonian.

"Our students will receive fresh lunches and not the boxed/prepackaged lunches that were previously served," she said. "This was done to provide a nutritious lunch for our students and also to be able to realize a small profit to pay for our lunch program supplies. The district had been losing money with our former lunch provider."

Students will be starting the school year with a refinished gymnasium floor and new bleachers at the Park Avenue complex. This project was paid for with money remaining from a previous health and safety referendum, according to O'Connell.